It has been known heretofore to mount power tools such as routers, sabre saws, and the like onto fixed or movable structures for a variety of workshop applications. As a rule, however, the orientations of the cutting tool mounted onto such structures cannot be easily adjusted. In some systems, the cutting tool is spatially completely fixed, and patterns can only be achieved by moving the workpiece. In other systems, movement of the cutting tool in one or two dimensions is possible but the structural complexities of such assemblies and hence their cost made them less accessible to many potential users.
Improved structures for mounting power tools appear regularly in the prior art. A combination electric table saw and folding, mobile work bench is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,496 to Dennis R. Romans. It relates to a space saving structure where the machine tool is affixed to a mobile work bench whose legs can be folded into the frame structure of the work bench and which can be stored in a vertical orientation. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,191 to James R. Fetty is described a radial universal tool which can selectively perform a variety of one-dimensional functions of a table saw, wood and metal lathe, drill press, horizontal boring machine, milling machine, and disc sander. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,283 to Edward M. Nash and Edward M. Johnson, Jr. is described a mobile work bench for mounting a plurality of electrically operated handtools and discloses a structure permitting the mounting of a variety of electrically powered hand tools and converting the latter into stationary power tools. Similarly, a folding workshop tool stand is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,184,190 to Russell B. Halfinger. It permits the connection of a variety of tools to one motor driven unit and the stand may be stored out of the way while not in use.
Good control of a power tool is often difficult. Accordingly, the use of guides such as templates or the like are also reported in the patent literature. A recent one is a cutting tool guide assembly described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,910 to Raymond P. Reneau in which a trolley is used to guide a cutting tool in a one-dimensional movement for making a precise cut on the workpiece. Among others, a machine for precise cutting and finishing of curved wooden members is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,688,612 to Michael Kessel, Ervin Kessel and Eugene Schneider, but this machine has only limited capabilities in two dimensional vertical and rotational movements. For more intricate patterns, the use of undulatory rails on a track is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,615 to Henry A. Ditmanson and Helen Donaldson. Similarly, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,263 to Charles D. Skinner is described a table using a template holding frame for the creation of designs of varying depth and width.
Most of the tool mounting structures such as a workbench and the like remain stationary during operation. One portable frame for cutting large objects is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,123,112 to Hubert Earl Hodges and Burton Garvin Frame. In this improvement, a cutting tool is affixed to a wheeled frame permitting two dimensional cutting of a tree stump with improved stability of movement and reduced hazard to the operator. However, the Hodges invention is not designed for use in making patterned cuts.